Reuters, Amsterdam – In an interview with Dutch radio station BNR on Saturday, the recently retired CEO of semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML stated that the ongoing US-China disputes over computer chips are ideological and unfounded.

After leading ASML for ten years and seeing it grow into the biggest technology company in Europe, Wennink departed in April. Citing security concerns, the US has tightened restrictions on the tools that the company can export to China, which is its second-largest market after Taiwan, since 2018. The US has most recently tried to prevent the business from maintaining equipment that has already been sold to Chinese clients.